There are quite a number of streaming services out there trying to convince us to shell out the money for a subscription, and I tend to cycle through those depending on what sci fi/fantasy shows they currently have available. In this column, I will focus on a different service each with each post and let you know what I am finding that might convince sci fi TV fans it is worth the money.
Netflix was one of the first services offering streaming, and it has since become the leader in that realm. It started off as a DVD rental company, taking away business from brick-and-mortar rental stores and eventually contributing to the downfall of Blockbuster. As Hulu and Amazon started offering streaming, Netflix jumped onboard as well, adding VOD to its service (initially for free and later for an upcharge). Originally it had only existing movies and TV shows available to stream, but in 2013 it made the move into producing originals. Since that time, it has poured enormous amounts of money into its original productions and become a streaming juggernaut.
Among the originals it has offered in the sci fi and fantasy genres over the years are Stranger Things, The Witcher, Black Mirror, the Lost in Space reboot, Shadow and Bone, and it had the MCU shows like Daredevil and Jessica Jones (until they were cancelled and eventually moved to Disney+). But that just scratches the surface of what Netflix has available as it has expanded to international productions with notable sci fi entries such as Dark, 3%, Rain, and All of Us Are Dead. Watching all of the Netflix originals released each month would probably be close to a full-time job year-round.
Among the past shows that Netflix has available for streaming are many of the Arrow-verse entries, Supernatural, Dark Matter, Avatar: The Last Air Bender, The 4400, and more. There was a time when the streamer had a vast catalog of prior genre entries, but as studios have been setting up their own services they have let the streaming rights for their shows lapse at Netflix. Still, there is a fair amount available from the streamer with quite a number of movies (including originals) as well.
But here’s the rub on Netflix: don’t get attached to any of its originals. The streamer works on a churn model that is constantly cranking out new originals to draw in subscriptions. Once a show gets past its first season, though, it tends to deliver diminishing returns on new subscriptions (high-profile entries like Stranger Things and The Witcher are the exceptions). So Netflix does not have much interest in keeping shows going beyond a third or fourth season because the new subscriptions usually do not justify the cost by that point. The streamer has also been very quick to cancel shows of late, even ones that have pulled in high viewership (i.e., Jupiter’s Legacy, Away, Cowboy Bebop, Archive 81, and more). Typically the best you can hope for is a three-to-four-season run (about 24 to 40 eps total) with the final season announced in advance. But plenty of shows have been cancelled by the streamer without the chance to wrap up their storylines (The OA, The Society, Altered Carbon, and more).
Netflix is also one of the most expensive streaming services, and they are pretty strict on the number of devices from which you can watch the service. $9.99 gets you one screen without HD, $15.49 gets you two screens with HD, and $19.99 gets you four screens. You do get plenty of content for your money, but also a fair amount of frustration since the streamer is not good about supporting its own originals. A new ad-supported tier that will be cheaper is in the works, and that may offer a good way to sample the service and decide if you want to pay the higher price for no ads. Just understand that Netflix is all about driving new subscribers to its service as fast as possible and it could quickly dispense with any or all of the shows that got you to sign up.
SciFiTVSite.com: Follow our Sci Fi TV Schedule for all the currently airing and upcoming sci fi and fantasy television shows, and keep up with what is airing/streaming each week with our Weekly Listings.
CancelledSciFi.com: Keep up with the status updates of all the currently airing sci fi and fantasy shows with our Cancellation Watch posts. And be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news and updates.
